McIntosh, Hudson work well together for Panthers

Go Takayama / Courier & Press
Reitz quarterback Matt McIntosh (9), center, is tackled by Bosse's Jon'el Hughes (28) as the Bulldogs' Steven Baker closes in during the second quarter at Enlow Field on Saturday. The Panthers rolled to a 54-26 victory to clinch at least a tie for the SIAC championship.

Twice in the second quarter Matt McIntosh found Jeff Hudson open for touchdown passes, but they didn't have much time to celebrate either. They had to get ready for the extra point.

Hudson, the junior receiver who holds the state Class 4A record for catches in a title game, is also Reitz's kicker. McIntosh, the sophomore starting quarterback of the team that clinched a share of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference title on Saturday, is the holder.

So they sneaked quick hive-fives and took their places to extend the lead that became a 54-26 victory over Bosse at Enlow Field.

"Sometimes it's kind of hectic," Hudson said. "Especially when the defense scores, because we're on the sideline talking to the coaches. If we're not on the field, we have to figure out where the (kicking) block is. We have somebody run it out to us."

Hudson had to kick two extra points after defensive touchdowns on Saturday, with both coming in the same quarter as his two receiving touchdowns. Reitz scored 34 points in the second quarter to turn a 7-6 showdown into a 41-6 smackdown.

The Panthers got their yards in big chunks all day. Bosse's nice opening drive that chewed nearly six minutes stalled at the Reitz 21, and it only took the Panthers two plays to score: a 62-yard run by Alordo Bell and an 18-yard run from Darrion Fletcher to finish it off.

Bosse quarterback Joe Frazier kicked off the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run, but McIntosh answered less than two minutes later with his own keeper touchdown.

Hudson got the extra point and a 19-yard scoring catch 40 seconds later, after Reitz's defense pressured Frazier into throwing an interception to Erik Bryant.

Josh Pendleton scored two touchdowns in the second half for the Bulldogs, including a 93-yard run in the fourth quarter that helped him get to 219 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Fourteen of Reitz's plays went for 10 yards or more, including a 63-yard pass from McIntosh to junior receiver Morgan Jones. Reitz rushed for 273 yards on 26 carries.

Reitz's longest play was the 75-yard fumble return by Seth Harrison with 1:35 to go, which came soon after Brendan Kassel returned a fumble 27 yards for the Panthers (7-1, 6-0).

"The bottom line is, the defense has to make teams earn real estate," said Bosse coach Andrew Weinzapfel, whose Bulldogs fell to 1-7, 0-6 SIAC. "It can't be easy. And we haven't been able to do that for a whole game yet."

Hudson finished the day with two receiving touchdowns—his second one was for 3 yards—and six extra points.

He now is tied for the team lead with three touchdowns, and has 227 yards on a team-high 25 catches.

His receiving numbers are down from last season, when his line was 74 catches, 1,270 and nine TDs. He caught a record eight passes in the Class 4A state finals.

Hudson first kicked as a freshman but deferred last year to Houston Hobbs. Every player on the team tried out this summer for a specialty job.

Coach Tony Lewis said Hudson beat out a handful of contenders to be the team's kicker this season.

One of those, Hudson pointed out, was McIntosh, who was the team's backup kicker last year. "I'm just focusing on holding this year," McIntosh joked.

Which is good, because Hudson has the kicking job nailed down.

He has made 32 of 37 extra point attempts. He has only made one field goal—but it came at the end of a 24-21 win over Memorial.